Just a Game
by HuggableMonsters
Summary: Tabitha and her younger sister Jessica have just escaped deaths clutches in Atlanta. For the next year, they are on their own, scavenging and surviving. You would think they would be scared, but they're not. To them, its only a game. Eventual Carl/OC.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

_Before the world went to shit, I was only in 5th Grade. We lived in El Paso, Texas and I was__ going on holiday to Atlanta with my mum, dad and my younger sister, Jessica - she was 4 and I was 10. _

_We were in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Atlanta, floor 5. I was out at the time to explore- more like just to get away from them, but my parents and sister was inside still. Probably in the swimming pool, its what Jess really wanted to do. The first thing she said when we got there was "I want to go in the pool!" It was about 10, in the morning when I heard about it, I think? _

_I was just walking past this motorway, I was really confused because there was some huge traffic jam and what looked to be a pileup at the other end of the road. But what really confused me was that there was no one in the cars. I mean, yeah, I got that it was a really hot day, sun was shining, no clouds and probably 100 degrees out but there was literally no one in sight. So I went to the first car I saw, the keys were still there so I turned on the engine and the radio. Then this weird message came on. _

_"We advise you to stay inside at all times, board windows and doors~"_

_'What?' I remember thinking. 'Why?! Why must we stay inside?' _

_That's when I first saw it. _

_It was on the other side of the car I was leaning into, trying to get through the window to me. It took me a moment to get my thoughts together. The sight of it made me want to puke. I mean, I was a huge fan of zombies and stuff like that, I found the sight funny- I kept getting told I was a sadist. Don't know why though... _

_The smell didn't help either, the decayed rotting flesh of the baking woman in front of me was horrific. The noises it was making sounded like it was being strangled. _

_I backed away slowly and it fell into the car. _

_As it crawled and fell out the other side of the window, I felt the backs of my legs hit the guard rail. When it got up and started after me at a surprising speed for a zombie, that's when I freaked out. I screamed and jumped over the guard rail, running along the path upwards towards my hotel. I ran along a path which was bordered by metre high walls. _

_When I looked back, it was closer than I thought it would be, it was almost in reaching distance. If anything, that motivated me to run faster. _

_I brushed my long, side swept fringe out my face and sprinted as fast as I could down the seemingly never ending pathway. _

_Turning another corner, I came face to face with more zombies who immediately took notice of my presence. Instead of attempting to go back the way I came because I knew the undead woman would turn that corner any second now, I leapt up the wall to the right, and sprinted along it, jumping over grabbing hands and puddles of blood. _

_After I'd gotten further away enough from them, I jumped down the opposite side onto the grass of the field which I knew was owned by the hotel owners. Pausing only for a moment to catch my breath, I ran the rest of the way into the hotel. _

_When I got in there, it was not the prettiest of sights let me tell you. Corpses littered the floor of the lobby and the were bursts of blood dripping down most of the walls. _

_I bent down and took a revolver from a guy with a hole in his head, and slowly made my way up the stairs of the building. On the way up I checked the ammunition. Still full. I've never used a gun before, I've always wanted too though. Its much heavier than I thought it would be._

_The door to my hotel was open a crack. I put the gun out in front of me, and nudge the door open with the toe of my boot. _

_"Mummy?" I had called out. "Daddy? Where are you? Jessie, you here?" _

_Everything was as it was when I left. All the cream sofas, wooden furniture, 50 inch TV was all as it was before, not an ounce of blood to be seen. I remember that I used to love police programmes, so just to entertain myself, despite the situation, I put my back against the wall next to my parents bedroom door and kicked it open, charging in. _

_The sight I saw horrified me and gave me nightmares for months. _

_My mum, was eating my dads stomach. His untouched head and arms flailing around in the air, growling and grumbling. I instantly knew they were zombies. I remember thinking, that this is just a bad dream, I remember pinching myself just to check but it wasn't a dream, it was real, I knew it._

_I puked. _

_That caught their attention. _

_My mum, bloodied mouth and all, got up and sauntered over to me. The top half of my dad just growled and reached into my direction as it could not move. _

_I backed up and slammed the door. I rushed into mine and my sisters room, which was next to my parents'. _

_Leaning my back against the door, I reached quickly and locked it before sliding down pulling my knees to my chest. 'I will not cry. Big girls don't cry' That's what I remember reciting in my head over and over again. Thumping began on the door behind me, shocking me out of thoughts. _

_Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from the adjoining bathroom. I remember picking up my gun again and aiming it at the bathroom door. As it creaked open, I remember my heart rate speeding up so fast it threatened to leap out my chest. I was shaking and sweating all over especially when I spied a small hand curling around the edge of the door frame. _

_'No not her. Not her' _

_A head poked out._

_'It is'_

_'Hang on a sec'_

_I saw her smile again, and then she ran over to me screaming. _

_"Tabby!" _

_"Your alive!" I had yelled back, taking her in my arms. As she sat curled in my chest and cried, I checked her over for any harm done like perhaps a bite from a zombie or something because I remembered reading in the comics that if you get bitten or scratched by one of them you will die and turn into one of them. Its like a game. A game. Its just a game, I remember telling Jess. Last ones who survive win. _

_"This will be fun, lets go Jess." That's what I told her as I unlocked and swung open the door to let my undead mother in._

_"Bring it on." I remember smiling at Jess who sat on the bed with an identical grin as she waited to see who won. Me or mum._

_Bang!_

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_**Word count: 1,216.**_

**_How was that? _**

**_Ill try and update at least once a week._**

**_Review please. _**


	2. Chapter 1: Discovery

_One year later..._

"A little higher Jess." I whispered in my sisters ear while the hands I placed on her shoulders steadied her as she took aim. We were currently perched on the roof of a house located in the middle of some Georgian...? Woods. I shifted a little from my crouched position behind the 5 year old making the deer in front of us look up and scan the area before going back to grazing.

"Are you sure I can do this, Tabs?" Jessica whispered back, glancing at me once. I nodded behind her then realised she couldn't see me so I muttered to her,

"Yeah, is the gun too heavy for you? Your arms are shaking." I more stated than asked. I wrapped my arms around her and held the rifle with her. She shook her head and took aim once more. "Hang on, rest the rifle into your shoulder and relax your arms a bit. Trust me, if your all stiff like that when you fire, it hurts. Trust me, I know." I remarked, unconsciously rubbing my still sore shoulder against my head.

I felt her relax more and let go of her. I leant back on my hands and watched her fire the gun. It hit the deer in the neck. I grinned and watched the deer stagger about before finally collapsing however it was still alive so I have to put it out of its misery. I pushed myself up and leapt off the low roof before catching the rifle and my sister who also leapt down.

"That was great, Jessie!" I cheered and slung the rifle and tightened the strap over my shoulder as made our way over to the poor, dying creature.

"You really think so?" She smiled anxiously at me.

"I know so! You got it in the neck, geez, my first time with this thing, I got whacked in the face and the deer escaped. I'm so jealous of you!" I pouted at her exaggeratedly which made her laugh. I love her laugh, its so cute and innocent. Sometimes I need to remind myself that she's still only 5 years old, and I'm only 11. We got robbed of our childhood so we had to grow up- but that doesn't mean we cant have fun still.

I yanked my knife out of my boot and handed it to Jessica. "Here, put the deer to rest and say your prayers whilst I get the bag." I always made her and myself pray for the animals we kill, and thank for our food. Its just the way I wished my sister and I were raised. My dad didn't like to believe in God so he forbade me from going to church but occasionally I managed to get there anyway. When I got back, I told the stories I learnt to Jess at bed time.

I ruffled her just-past-shoulder length, light brown hair and jogged over to a ditch nearby. When I got there, I sat on my knees and checked through everything to make sure it was there and hoisted the black duffel bag over my shoulder. Walking leisurely back to Jessica I noticed her on her knees with her hands together still and in the distance, several black looming spots swaying towards our direction.

"Do we have a black bag spare, Tabitha?" Jessica asked me, nodding towards the duffel bag on my shoulder. I nodded back and handed her a bag before taking my machete from its holster on my waist.

Saying my own quick prayer, I sliced off the deer's tail, legs and head and helped Jessica stuff the body in the bag. "Lets go, we have company." I told her seriously. She took my out stretched hand and I lead her through the woods.

On the way out, I tied my hair up into a high pony tail, letting my slightly longer fringe fall freely over my right eye. I glanced at Jessica and studied her hair. I think I should cut it again, I haven't cut it in a long time and its starting to get all fray-y and split end-y. I thought back to my own hair and with my left hand, brought it over so I could look at the ends of it. Just like Jessie's.

In the distance I could hear running water. I nudged Jessica with my hand and she looked at me quizzically.

"You need a haircut." I told her bluntly. She pouted and whined.

"Ohh. But I like my hair, Tabby!" I giggled at her.

"Ha, too bad its getting frizzy. You don't want any zombies to grab it now do you?" She shook her head and trudged heavily next to me. She always sulks when I have to cut her hair. Well, actually she sulks just about anything. "Lets speed up, come on we gotta loose these bogies."

Eventually, we found a road which lead to a bridge. Underneath which, was a river of freshwater. I made Jessica wait for me at the sign that said 'Yellow Jacket' while I rummaged through a truck and a couple of cars that were left abandoned on the bridge. I only found a few blankets and a back pack big enough for Jessica to carry on her back.

I chucked it at her when I walked back. "Here, its got blankets in it. You can carry that. Lets go down; I think that river is freshwater."

_***Edit* **_I went down the slope first, slipping halfway down. I nearly shouted a profanity but quickly covered my mouth for Jessica's sake; but she laughed at me anyway. "Oh yeah? I wanna see you get down here without slipping!" I yelled back at her whilst grumpily wiping the dried dirt off my ass. When she got down to my level without a scratch, I fumed. She kept laughing at me though with a grin that was apparently contagious as she soon got me laughing with her. "Aw, shut up and sit down" I pouted, throwing the bag of meat nearby a rock on the edge of the water under the bridge.

When she sat down, I placed my duffel bag on the, now pungent scented, meat and raked through it until pulled out some scissors, a jug and two canteens. I emptied the last of my day-old water into the ground next to me and re-filled our canteens after testing the water to see if it was actually freshwater. I was so right. It felt good to have a cool drink once in a while.

I filled the jug with water and helped Jessica lean backwards over the river before pouring it slowly over her head. Her forehead and nose crinkled up when she grinned and cringed away from the cold water.

"Its cold!" She complained to me as I tipped another cup over her head.

"I know!" I grinned. "That was the idea!"

I scrunched her hair over the water, watching the droplets run out of her hair and fall into the depths of the river. I sat Jess up and she wiped her face on her shirt. As I rummaged again through my duffel bag she grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled to get my attention.

"What?" I asked and then I saw the zombie slowly crawling to us down the river. "Oh, give me a second."

I pulled my knife out my boot again and with more effort than necessary, made my way over to the rotting flesh growling at me. Stomping over the brush, I raised my knife over my head and slammed it as hard as I could in the head. It stopped clawing at my feet and turned motionless. After wrestling my knife out the flimsy skull, I jogged back to Jessica.

"And you didn't think to get the brush out while I dealt with our problem? Geez, Jessie." I sighed at her when she just shrugged her shoulders and muttered a 'sorry'.

I took our red hairbrush from my bag and pulled it through her knotty hair. Then I began to cut her hair. When I was young I had this childish dream to be a hairdresser when I was older; I used to practise on my dolls and get really angry when I found out that Jessica had seen and copied me. Of course, _I _only trimmed it but Jess always cut it at the head.

Once I was done I brushed her hair back into high pig-tails. "There. All done." I stated with a gentle smile. "That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

"Nope." She smiled back. We packed up and moved back up to the road. After figuring out which direction we came from, we went the opposite way and continued down the road for several hours. We took a few detours through the woods and stopped to munch on our catch for a bit; we took rests in trees, and taunted the walkers trying to grab us. I know it was stupid but Jessica is too little to really understand what they are- she will be afraid of them otherwise, I need to keep her happy about it so she can kill them when I think she is ready for it.

Eventually, after and hour or so, we found ourselves on another motorway.

"So" I started after several minutes of silence. "Where do you think this leads?" I closed my eyes and walked for a while enjoying the breeze; I cracked an eye open when she didn't answer. I nudged her. "Hello...? Earth to Jessica, you there?" She looked at me with wide eyes.

"Huh? What?" She asked me. She's really out of it this afternoon. She's probably tired.

Forgetting my previous question, I asked her, "Are you tired? Do you want a piggyback?" She turned to me with tired eyes and nodded. I took the bag of meat from her and crouched in front to let her get on my back. "Watch the gun." I warned her as I felt her shift and rest her head on my shoulder.

I walked for what felt like another hour before I noticed a bunch of cars all stopped on the road. As I weaved in and around the cars I came across something curious written on a small car and dust marks which I figured was where someone left food or a box or something. I figured that from the writing- it was all smudged where the rain had washed it but I could just about make it out. I read;

"Sophia stay here we will come every day."

I wonder who Sophia is, and I wonder who 'we' is too. They must have been here recently.

Gosh, Jessica's getting particularly heavy now. I just have to deal with it and continue on; maybe I will come across someone soon. Or a house, or something...

I continued about another two miles down the road before I came across a turn off with a sign that I promptly ignored. Deciding that I could not take walking much longer with the heavy load of mine, I took my chances and walked down the dirt road. I soon came to a clearing that was fenced off and the gate looked still intact. I lay Jessica gently against a nearby tree and put my bags down beside her.

I walked to the gate and peered closely at the house. A caravan, a truck and two cars were parked outside it. I sat Indian style at the foot of the gate; I barely noticed darkening of the sky.

Then after an hour, someone came out. It was only one person; he has brown hair and what looks to be a crossbow? Cool, on his back. Wow, people actually do live here. I scampered back to where Jessica was still asleep and shook her awake.

"Jessica! Wake up!" I instructed loudly. She opened her eyes and looked at me. Blinking away sleep, she rubbed her eyes and shifted so she sat up straight.

"What's up, Tabby?" She asked me sleepily. I pointed back to the house beyond the gate.

"There are people here!" I told her excitedly. She stared at me with wide eyes.

"Really?!"

"Yeah. But we should watch them first to figure out if they are friendly or not. Lets get up the tree." Jessica followed my instructions and as soon as we got high enough and comfortable, I took out our newly acquired blankets. We were hidden by the trees' small but many leaves so the people could not spot us. I looked at Jessica who sat comfortably against the bark of the tree with her knees to her chest, mimicking my position. "Hey Jess." I whispered sleepily.

She stopped fiddling with her blanket and looked at me. "Yeah, Tabitha?"

"You mind taking the first watch? I'm tired from carrying you." I asked her, nodding off slightly.

"Sure Tabby." The small girl replied as I fell into a dreamless sleep.

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_**Word count: 2,171.**_

_**Had to edit it. I felt I could do more, still think I could but quite frankly I'm not up to doing much more really. **_

_**Doncamatic: Thank you. I know right, it is kind of annoying when you there isn't an introduction because you don't really know what's going on! **_

_**XxxBrEndAxxX: Here you go ;D **_

_**Thank you for your review's guys.**_

_**And anyone else, please review my story! Its what keeps me going :D **_


	3. Chapter 2: Meeting the Group

I woke up with a start. Seriously, have you ever felt like your having this dream where your falling and then suddenly you just wake up like you've just had a fit? Its weird. Damn, I could've fallen out this tree.

I released my grip on the branch beside me and stretched out my stiff fingers and legs. I looked over at Jessica who was asleep on a branch slightly higher than mine. She forgot to wake me up. She looks so cute all curled up like that, her tiny little fingers holding tightly to the blanket like its going to be ripped away from her.

I reached up and poked her shoulder. I quickly found myself staring in her dark, golden brown eyes- an exact copy of my own. She really is a mini- me. I watched Jessica's eyes scan the place up and down before she groaned and sat up stretching.

"You forgot to wake me" I grinned at her half asleep. "Anything could've happened you know." I told her in mock anger as I brought the black duffel bag closer to my person.

"I know~. I'm sorry." She said with a yawn as she passed me her blanket. "Do you think that yucky meat is still down there?"

I shrugged at her. It probably is still there, might as well check anyway- these clothes stink.

I started down the tree and motioned Jessica to follow me. When we got down I placed the duffel bag at the bottom of the tree next to the bag of meat, which was still here. Its really going off quick, I mean the smell from the meat, bag and the sun doesn't help either, is really repulsive. I laughed when I saw Jessica gag. I handed her the meat and smiled, amused, when she held it at arms length and made a face. I told her that we need to go deeper into the trees so no 'peeping Toms' can see us get changed.

You never know if someone's already spotted us.

When I deemed it safe enough, we began to get changed. I saw Jessica pull out some blue leggings and big yellow shirt with a daisy on it. I'm glad we kept some of our stuff from the hotel.

I took off my rifle and changed into blue, frayed shorts and a white, airy shirt that had a grey drawing of a castle on it. Jessica kept her trainers on while I slipped on some white socks and open sandals that done up a little higher than my ankles. When I looked over at Jessica, I saw she was already staring at me; I tilted my head at her.

"Can we get rid of the meat now?" She begged. "Its gross and smells like daddy's feet."

I laughed. "Yeah, I think we have still got a can of spaghetti hoops or something."

I sat down on the stump of a fallen tree as Jessica literally threw the smelly bag away. I unzipped the duffel and gave Jessica a canteen, putting my own to side, then I brought out a tin of spaghetti hoops- like I predicted, along with a spoon. I took a few sips of water before replacing our canteens in the duffel.

"Knife." I mumbled to myself as I took my pocket knife from my other boots. "And carefully~" My voice went a few octaves higher to the end as I not- so- gently eased my knife into the lid of the tin. When I flipped the lid open, Jessica came and sat in front of me patiently. I deliberately, slowly, fitted the knife into my sandals and picked up the spoon.

I watched her as Jessica licked her lips hungrily as I dipped the spoon into the cold food and brought it out. Just to tease her, I rose the spoon just above her head and side to side. I grinned as I watched her eyes closely follow the spoon and cracked up when she pouted and moaned at me to not tease her. I shovelled a few spoons into her mouth before eating some myself.

As I gave Jessica the last spoonful, I head a deep voice coming our way.

"Yeah, man. I saw 'em this mornin' up that tree. They cant've got far."

I stood up abruptly and kicked our bag behind me, whipping out my machete. Jessica hid behind me. I could feel her head pushing against my spine and her small hands clutching my shirt.

**_*Edit*_ **Soon enough two men came into our view. One, I recognised from the other day- the guy with the cool cross bow. The other man looked slightly more friendlier, he had curly brown hair. They didn't have their weapons out so I took that as a good sign.

"See." The crossbow guy pointed in our direction and started towards us. The other man placed a hand on his chest as a motion to stay there as he took a few steps towards us. He raised his hands in the air and got down on one knee.

"Hey there." He started and I pointed my machete at him. "Uh, my name is Rick, Rick Grimes and this is Daryl. He spotted you two this morning up the tree back there."

I didn't say anything but I also didn't lower my weapon. They look friendly enough, I mean they didn't seem to be doing anything wrong from what I can tell in that farmhouse. Who knows? Still, I kind of wish I picked up my rifle instead of my machete now.

Rick continued. "We have a camp back there, at the farm." He stated motioning back the way we came. I let my eyes drift towards that direction but the foliage blocked my view, I looked back at Rick. "How long have you been out there?" I still said nothing so he tried again. "Can you at least tell us your names?"

Jessica stepped out from behind me and gripped my arm with both of hers. I looked at her uncertainly. Jessica didn't look at me, just at Rick and spoke quietly. "My name is Jessica. This is my big sister Tabitha."

Daryl sniffed and stepped forward making me point my machete at him. My arms were beginning to shake now. Its just where my arms have been holding my machete too long so I convinced them to hold out a little longer.

"Why don't you come back with us?" Didn't expect that out of him. He looks all mean and hunter-y. Yup, that is now a word. "You look like you've been out here a while." He then said, motioning up and down at our figures. I guess he had a point. I let my arms down with a relieved sigh.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jessica watch me put away my machete and zip up the duffel bag. I heard her tell the two men that we would come.

I tightened the rifle on my back and clipped on my belt with the machete. I then threw the duffel bag on my shoulder and chucked Jessica her bag. We began to follow the men out of the forest.

"In our camp." I turned to the speaker, Rick. "I have a little boy there, who you might get along with." He glanced at me. "He's around your age, Tabitha. His names Carl."

I nodded. As we trudged towards the gate, Rick began speaking again. "We used to have another little girl with us too. But unfortunately, she went missing recently. Its a tough subject." I reckon that's Sophia he is talking about and that was his way of saying 'Mention one word and you'll send the entire camp into a depression.' "How old are you two girls anyway?"

I looked at the 5 year old clinging to my hand, obviously off in her own world again- staring at the gorgeous farmhouse we were slowly approaching- so I answered this time. "I'm 11. Jessica is 5."

"Wow." Daryl commented. "You two sure are young. And your telling me you have been all on your own all this time?"

"I guess we were just lucky." I stated emotionlessly. I guess we really were lucky...

"Sure were." Rick stated, nodding. "So you protected Jessica too?" I nodded back at him.

"She cant look after herself. I showed her how to used a rifle yesterday. Hit a deer in the neck." I said, proud of my little sister's achievement and allowed a smile on my face as I glanced down at the little girl beaming at me. She obviously heard the last part.

No one said anything else as we walked up to the farm house. It looked safe enough. The cars had moved, I figure they must be at the back of the house. As we drew nearer I saw two women and men standing outside the RV/caravan. Daryl walked off whilst Rick motioned us to follow him. The people turned to look at us and I held Jessica's hand tighter, for my own reassurance more than hers. The Asian guy looked kind of flustered.

"Girls, this is Shane, Lori, Carol and Glenn. This is Tabitha and Jessica. Daryl found them sleeping in a tree at the edge of the woods." Rick said. Shane nodded at us while the others smiled. Shane looked badass with his bald head, serious looks and lots of muscle. Wow, Tabitha- shut up. I looked at Lori instead.

"Its good to meet you two, need a couple more children to brighten up the camp." Glenn told us, patting my shoulder as he headed towards the house. "Need to find Maggie." He called as he walked off. I wonder who Maggie is.

We met the others too, Glenn was nice and so was Lori and Jimmy. Dale was like the wise, old granddad I've never had. Jessica seemed to have taken a liking to Hershel and followed him around instead. I had yet to meet Carl. It would be nice to finally talk to someone my age.

I walked towards one of the upstairs rooms where Rick told me he would be. Apparently he knows of my arrival already.

As I stepped up the carpeted stairs of the house, I suddenly felt kind of nervous. What if he doesn't like me? What if he's really mean? I frowned. I need to stop being so stupid, I highly doubt my doubts... Yes that makes sense.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't realise I'd reached the room until I nearly walked into the door. I face palmed and walked in.

Jimmy sat in the far end of them room with a Monopoly board in front of him. Next to him sat a boy who was my age. He had brown hair and blue eyes, he was like an exact replica of Rick and he also wore a sheriffs hat. He looked at me and smiled. Everyone's so smiley here! They're probably just trying to make the best of our situation.

I tapped the handle with my middle finger and bit my bottom lip by habit as I waved at them. Jimmy got up and walked past me out of the door after whispering to me that he was waiting for me. Oh, kay~.

I stepped over to where Jimmy sat and settled against the radiator. Carl didn't say anything, instead he moved a piece on the board. Clearly it was his turn before Jimmy left. So I took the dice and rolled them before moving Jimmy's- my piece. I don't know what it is about him, but he seems pretty cool. I smiled at him and he smiled back. I think we are going to be good friends.

...Yup. Not cliché at all.

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_**Word count: 2,008.**_

_***Edited :)***_

_**Did my edit today and this chapter. I feel like a weight's been lifted off my chest xD **_

_**Ill probably do another edit tomorrow or something. This chapter feels too blotchy if that makes sense? **_

_**Taylorgrimsley.14: Thanks for your review! Glad you like it.**_

_**Reviews please.**_


	4. Chapter 3: Some Birthday

Its my birthday today.

I'm finally the same age as Carl!

_***Edit***_I've been here for a month or so now. Its been... eventful to say the least. They found Sophia- not a happy ending. Dale passed away and we have a hostage. Not one of their best plans, mind you. They're planning on killing him. Personally, I don't agree with it. I didn't agree with it to start off with. Neither has Jessica but she will believe anything I say. I don't want Jessica to have a say in it or to see it either.

Right now I'm packing my bag. I always want to be prepared plus there's something off about today. I can just feel something is going to go wrong. Its like its in the air...

After zipping up my duffel bag, I put it against the sofa in Hershel's living room and made my way to the bathroom with a handful of fresh clothes. We can only bath about once a month due to shortages but its okay because the water is hot!

Locking the door, I turned on the taps to start the shower and stripped down to my birthday suit- ironic, huh?

I step into the shower and shiver at the sting of hot water on my naked flesh; I sit on the tub floor and pull my legs to my chest, burying my head between my knees. I sigh loudly. I feel my brown hair get heavy and form a thick curtain around my head.

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. My head snaps up and as I brush my soaked locks over the top of my head, I call,

"Occupied!"

"Tabby... Its me. Can I come in?" Its Jessica.

"Oh, yeah. Hang on." I step out the shower slowly, slipping anyway and skid over to the door to unlock it. I hide my body behind the door as Jessica walks in, placing her fresh clothes on the floor and begins to strip too. We both settle into the bath. Jessica sits in between my legs as I wash her hair. I'm so happy that Glenn and Maggie went on that run for Lori, I heard, and got more shower products.

"Hey, what do you think of the group?" Jessica asked me all of a sudden. "I mean, is it still safe here?"

She is scared. She didn't see Dale's death but she did see Shane's out burst and the walkers pouring out the barn- now that's a long story. "Are you scared of Shane?" I blurt out before I can stop myself. I can see her tense.

"No... Its just. What if Randall's group comes to find him? We will all be in trouble then!"

"True but, that's not why you asked is it?"

"I want to see if you are comfortable with where we are." She said meekly. She's so mature. So cute.

I wash out the conditioner from her hair and just randomly begin to waterfall braid it. "Well..." I start.

"The adults are very nice and kind to us, aren't they? Well, maybe except Shane. But I just think he's going through a phase." I ramble. "He'll get over it, I'm sure. You get along well with Hershel well. Lori and Rick are like our new parents. They care for us even though the don't have to. T-Dog and Glenn are great!" I grin as I begin to wash my own hair while Jessica traces patterns in the water rushing down the drain. "They're so cool, like dorky cousins. Beth is sweet and I can talk to her about anything. Maggie is like a female Zorro." Me and Jess laugh at that as we remember one of our first discussions with Glenn. He told us how Maggie came riding from the woods and 'whisked' Lori away to Carl when he was shot.

"Like a real cool ninja. Oh my goodness, have you seen how Maggie and Glenn have been looking at each other recently?!" I gush. "Its so cute, just gives me the urge to just shove them together and yell at them to 'kiss already'!" I peaked at Jessica and saw she was grinning as wide as I was. "And Carol and Daryl too. I swear there's got to be something between them. Did you know apparently, according to Carl, Daryl gave her a rose when she was grieving for Sophia. Cute~!

"And then there's Carl. He's awesome." Jessica eyes me closely and I grin sheepishly at her. "And I love to tease him about getting shot. Of course he knows I don't mean it in a bad way. All I do is sometimes walk by him and call him a 'klutz'- then again, he counters by calling me 'Shorty' or 'Short Stack'..." I trail off, suddenly having the urge to come up with other names. "I mean," I start again. "I'm not that short am I?"

I stare at Jessica in disbelief as she nods with smirk. "Tch. Well..."

I help Jessica out the bath after I turned the taps off. Wrapping myself in a towel to dry off, I turn to her when she begins to speak.

"I think," She puts her index finger in front of her face and raises an eyebrow at me like she's just figured out the cause of the outbreak. "I think, you like him."

When I gape at her and begin to deny, she presses her finger forward on my lips to silence my protests. "I think, you like _like _him."

"Do not!"

She just laughs at my pouting and begins to get dressed. I wrap the towel around my head and slip on some navy jeggings with a airy orange tank top. We walk out the bathroom and I yell upstairs to T-Dog that the bathroom is free. Seconds later I see T-Dog and Glenn barrelling down the stairs trying to get to the bathroom. I laugh as I walk away from the three to pack away my dirty clothes. Ill wash them later...

I scrub my hair as dry as I can get it before heading outside to find Carl. I hope he's still not beating himself up over Dale. He blames himself for Dale's death. Its because on the day of his death, Carl went out to the woods and taunted the walker that killed Dale.

It isn't the case though as I find him asleep under a tree, hands behind his head and his hat over his eyes. He's wearing brown jeans, a blue shirt with short sleeves and his usual black combat boots. I plop down next to him and take his hat, placing it on my head. It takes a few minutes but eventually he shifts and cracks an eye open at me. I give a toothy grin and a short wave.

"Hey" I say haughtily. I can see his eyes flicking to his hat before he groans and flings and arm over his eyes instead.

I giggle at him. "Wow, I'm not that ugly am I?"

I feign hurt and place a hand on my chest. He moves his arm off one eye before putting it back when he sees my grinning face. A sly smirk crosses my face when I spin on the spot and lay my wet hair on his stomach. Some of the stray, brown strands hit his bare stomach where his shirt has risen up which makes him jolt and sit up on his elbows.

"Gah, your making me all wet!" He complains. I hear Glenn snort as he walks by but I just grin and flip him off. I burst out laughing at them both. I feel Carls chest rumble as he chuckles too. "And my hat..." He adds later on.

"So Klutz, what are you doing?" I ask him, turning on my side to face him. He raises an eyebrow at me as I deliberately soak his shirt even more.

"I _was _sleeping, but then some Short Stack took my hat." He retorts as he links his hands and lays back down. I roll my eyes at him and lay back on my back, playing with the ends of my hair. He cant even call me, that's copying. T-Dog called me it first... wow. I really must be short, I mean I'm shorter than Carl and he's short in general. Eventually, I give up, boredom having overtaken me, and turn to Carl once again and whine.

"Carl~! I'm bored! Lets go do something!" I feel his chest rise high before he let out a sigh.

"Fine." I grin. "Race you to the barn?" He asks me when we stand up. But I'm already running.

"Go!" I call over my shoulder. I hear him yell 'Hey!' but I'm already much farther ahead. I slow down to a stop when I come across a group of worried adults who are standing my the gate near the barn where Randall is being held. Lori came up to me.

"Tabitha, have you seen Carl?" She asks.

"Right here. What's going on?" A voice behind me asks as Lori takes the speaker in her arms. When we walk up to the others, Rick states,

"Randall's escaped." I gasp. I don't hear the rest of the conversation because I'm already running back to the house to find Jessica. When I jog in, I find her asleep on the couch- our bed after winning a bet (T-Dog takes the floor! Cue evil laugh). I shake her awake. Before she can ask any questions I scoop her up and take her outside again. I feel her arms and legs tighten around me when I quickly hop down the front steps. I can already feel her falling back asleep.

I stand beside Carl and watch as Rick, Shane, Glenn and Daryl walk off into the woods.

"Is that safe?" I ask, breaking the silence. Carol shakes her head worriedly and Lori also looks worried as she tells me that they have split up to search for Randall. Jessica leans back and looks me in the eye before turning to the others.

"How did he escape?"

Maggie speaks this time. "Got free and nailed Shane in the nose. Apparently he was working on his cuffs for a while according to Rick. Now he's loose and running about. He knows where we live and apparently his camp isn't the friendly type." My eyes drift to Daryl quickly but I look back at Maggie before he notices.

"So what are we going to do?" I ask as I place Jessica on the floor and take Carl's hand. Did I mention that me and him have got really close recently?

"He have to go back to the house and wait for further news. We just need to wait." Andrea says, taking Jessica's hand and leading us all back into the farmhouse.

When we get there its all havoc, the Greene's are running round, shutting curtains and killing lights. I see Andrea and Glenn talking to T-Dog, probably explaining what's going on since he was in the shower. Lori ushers Jessica, Carl and I up the stairs into one of the master bedrooms.

Now we're sitting in the room by ourselves waiting for the moment that the adults arrive back hopefully with Randall. Carl's sitting at the window- he's gone all cold again, shutting everyone out and a shitty attitude has replaced his usual happy one. He did this after Sophia's funeral and Dales too. Jessica's under the covers and I'm sitting on top, stroking her short, brown hair.

Jessica cant get to sleep because she's too worried. I believe coming here has made her soft. But, that is how she is supposed to be; she needs her childhood back.

"Tabby." Jessica's meek voice calls out to me. I tear my eyes away from Carl and face her. "Tell me a story."

"What one?" I ask her, shifting on the bed trying to make myself more comfortable.

"The first one." Carl glances at me, his cold façade cracking just long enough to reveal confusion before his walls are back up again and he looks back out the window. I nod.

"It took seven days." I started. "In the beginning, there was nothing. In the beginning, it was plain. There was just Heaven, the sky, Earth and water. Darkness covered the ocean and the land. On the first day, God said "Let there be light!" Then light began to shine and he saw, that it was good. He named the light, 'day' and the darkness, 'night'. There was morning and there was evening.

"On the second day, God said "Let there be space to separate the water into two parts!" Then there was space and the water parted. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it. God named that space 'sky.' He saw that it was good.

"On the third day, God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear." And it happened. God named the dry land "Earth", and he named the water that was gathered together "seas." And God saw that this was good. Then God said, "Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the Earth." And it happened. The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this was good."

I saw Jessica begin to drift off. But I didn't stop.

"On the fourth day, God said, "Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years. They will be in the sky to shine light on the earth." And it happened. So God made the two large lights. He made the larger light to rule during the day and the smaller light to rule during the night. He also made the stars. God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good.

"On the fifth day, God said, "Let the water be filled with many living things, and let there be birds to fly in the air over the Earth." So God created the sea animals. He created all the many living things in the sea and every kind of bird that flies in the air. And God saw that this was good. God blessed all the living things in the sea and told them to have many babies and fill the seas. And he blessed the birds on land and told them to have many more babies too.

"On the sixth day, God said, "Let the earth produce many kinds of living things. Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals produce more animals." And all these things happened."

I yawned.

"So God made every kind of animal. He made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw that this was good. He then said, "Let's make humans who will be like us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth."

"So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself. He created them male and female. God blessed them and said to them, "Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth." God said, "I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees. These trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food. And I am giving all the green plants to the animals. These green plants will be their food. Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things that crawl on the earth will eat that food." And all these things happened. God looked at everything he had made. And he saw that everything was very good." Jessica is asleep now, I brushed her hair away from her forehead and moved next to Carl on window sill. Whereas he is sitting on the window pane, I dangle my legs outside into the fresh air.

We just sat there for a while before Carl whispered quietly, not looking at me, "So what happened on the seventh day?"

"Huh?" I must look like an idiot. "Oh. On the seventh day, Sunday, that's the Sabbath. Day of rest. So I guess it really only took six days, huh?"

Carl nodded and looked up at the sky. I followed his gaze and stared, entranced, at the shining objects dusting over the dark sky. It got dark pretty quick. That's probably because its nearing winter now; Carl and I have our fingers crossed on going on a snowmobile when it finally snows.

"They've been gone for a long time." I mutter.

"We should go after them." Carl states, hopping off the sill. I blurt out a couple of incoherent words before regaining my composure and jumping down next to him.

"And how do you propose we do that? The adults will catch us!" He smirked at me. "Oh come on, your not serious? Oh you are serious..."

He strapped his gun holster to leg before taking his hat that I didn't realise I still had on my head and putting it on his own. "Ill do this with or without you." He uttered seriously as he walked back to the window pane. I gaped at him, my gaze switching back and forth between him and Jessica before I sighed and took my gun out of my duffel bag.

"If we get caught I will kill you. Just warning you." I threatened as Carl slid onto the roof outside the window and I strapped my gun into its holster. I sighed again and followed him, glancing back once at Jessica before exiting. I watch as Carl drops quietly down from the roof before copying him. I took his hand in my left and we sped into the woods.

We walked around for a while, but we didn't find anything. We could barely even see. Suddenly, we heard a gunshot. I looked at Carl who I figure has the same grim expression I do as we sprinted towards the sound. We found ourselves at the edge of the woods, Carl was looking around frantically when I noticed two dark silhouettes in the distance. I yank on his shirt and pull him towards it.

When we get there, we see Rick standing over Shane who is laying on the floor. Rick, apparently not noticing us, sighs and starts back in our direction; that's when we raise our guns at him. He stood back slightly with his bloody hands in the air.

"Now, Carl, Tabitha, put the guns down." He obviously doesn't realise why we were pointing our guns. I can feel hot tears run down my face and I lower my gun. I looked at Carl who doesn't have tears unlike me. I feel like such a baby.

"I cant do it Carl." I croaked. Whether he heard me or not, he didn't show any signs.

"Carl..." Rick tried again. Carl took the shot and Shane dropped dead once more. Rick whipped around at the corpse. I wrapped my arms around Carls limp shooting hand and leant my head on his shoulder facing Rick. Tears were still falling but I refuse to actually cry.

The three of us headed back to the farmhouse, but just as we neared the fence to climb over, I froze- I heard a growl. I looked behind me and what I saw, scared the living shit out of me. I jerk Carl by his hand harshly back towards me.

"Rick!" I squeak. Hundreds of walkers headed towards us, hungry for their new meal. That's a huge herd.

He looks as petrified as I do. "Lets go." He dragged us behind a tree. As the walkers passed, some noticed and began to walk towards us. That's when Rick started shooting and nudging us towards the barn. I got there first because I was a bit more lean than the others and hauled the doors open as much as I could, waiting for Carl to get through before I followed as Rick closed the door and put a pole inside the handles. As Rick walked somewhere towards the back of the barn I walk tentatively over to the doors.

I screamed and jumped back when the walkers- that's what we call them now by the way- began to bang on the door. Carl wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back further. I could feel both our bodies hyperventilating. Rick called us over, when we turned he was putting down a large tub of gasoline. Then I noticed the floor was covered in it. He gave Carl a lighter and told us both to get up the top.

Once at the top, Rick let in the walkers, screaming and taunting them to come closer before climbing as fast as he can to the where we are. I sniffed and wiped away the remainder of my tears. As soon as we figured no more could fit in, Carl dropped the lighter. I grip Carls hand tightly as we stoically watch the walkers burn. I watch Rick pat Carl on the shoulder and walk out of the barn to the outside ledge.

Carl pulled me over as well and we all jumped onto the RV. That's when I heard Jimmy's scream. He is in the RV.

"Jimmy!" I shriek as I saw blood splatter on the window. "No!" I start to cry again. That's when I look over at the farmhouse, walkers were beginning to overrun it. I gasped. Jessica's still in there. I watched Rick jump down and run to the nearest car and vaguely heard Carl call me to hurry up. Carl was already down and by the car. I was just watching the farmhouse.

Jessica is in there. We gotta get her out.

By the time I had snapped back into reality there were over a dozen walkers clawing at the RV trying to get to me. They began to pile up. I whimpered and backed up. Rick and Carl's car were slowly attracting walkers as they kept yelling at me to jump.

Right. I am fast. I can do this. I took several steps back before running top speed, leaping over the walkers and gracefully landing in a roll. I would have jumped for joy at my achievement if flesh eating monsters weren't already at my heels. Carl opened the back door for me and I leap in and slam the door behind me. Rick drove off as fast as he could go without crashing.

He drove out the nearest exit but I couldn't take my mind off Jessica. I can't hear Carl's worried voice asking if I was okay. All I can hear is Jessica's petrified screams ricocheting around my mind. I don't even know if she's dead or alive so I cant be making assumptions right now. Best to be positive.

As I slowly brought myself back into the real world- awful term, really- I note Carl's hand tightly holding mine and that we weren't driving anymore.

I looked at Carl who was facing away from me and out the window. Using my peripheral vision I saw Rick leaning on the hood of the car tapping his fingers anxiously against his arms. "Where are we?" I mumbled. Carl whipped his head back at me.

"Oh good your okay." He said, ignoring my question. "We are waiting for the others. Dad figured, since we were all separated that we would most likely meet up here."

"Why here?"

"Ill show you." He said as he opened the door and got out, pulling me with him. Then I recognise where we are, it was the highway outside the Greene's farm, where I found that message. I was proved right when he pulled me over to the small, brown car and pointed to the smudged writing. "It says-"

"I know what it says." I interrupt and begin to rub small circles at the back of his hand for comfort. "I came past here with Jessica just before we found the farmhouse. I read it then."

He nodded. That's when we heard the honk of a horn and saw two cars, truck and a motorbike come our way. Out stepped Lori, the Greene's, T-dog, Glenn and Daryl and everyone else I possibly missed...

But not Jessica.

I ran up to Lori just as she was released from a death hug curtsey of her family. "Where's Jessica?" I asked. She looked at me blankly. Well...?

"Oh, she's asleep in the back of the car." She said bluntly. What?

I gaped at her. "She slept through that?!" Lori nodded. "Wow~" I started laughing and walked over to the car Lori got out of. Sure enough, Jessica was there asleep. I dropped to my knees and rested my head on the edge of the seat. "Oh god." I smiled but I was crying again. Doesn't matter though at least we're out safely.

"Some birthday, huh?"

* * *

**_Word Count: 4,321._**

**_*Edited* I have difficulty with past/ present tenses so bare with me :/_**

**_Woooow. This is the longest chapter yet :D But I'm not done with her birthday quite yet..._**

**_Green Angel01: I know :D I try to base her off of my own little sister, except, you know, more badass xD_****_Guest: I thank you for your enthusiasm! :D Glad you enjoy it!_**

**_Thekenpachi: Hereee. By any chance, do you watch Bleach? 'Cause I do! _**

**_Thankyou for your reviews guys!_**

**_Review what you think of this chapter! I'm more than happy to see what you have to say!_**


	5. Chapter 4: Flowers

"Coriander."

"Cori- what? No! They don't even look like coriander, why would they grow out here?"

Carl shrugged, which made me raise an eyebrow in frustration. I thrust an hand out towards the plant.

"Smell it!" I watched as he raised a leaf to his nose. "Well?"

"Doesn't smell of anything...?"

I looked at it for a second. Oh, its not what I thought it was, I was wrong. Not that I'd ever tell Carl that though.

"Well, duh." I covered nonchalantly, waving my hand a few times before awkwardly placing it back on my knee. "That's because its a Yellow Buckeye tree. A small one." I stated matter- of- factually. We had been playing this for a while, ranging from berries to bushes and flowers to trees. Carl just looked at me for a moment before pouting.

"I don't like this game." I grinned at him and pulled myself up from my crouched position. I pulled him up before leading him back to the edge of the woods where the others were.

"I wanna go find some daisies." I mumbled to myself before letting go of Carls hand and skipping to a patch of grass littered with said flowers. I was wearing my shorts again, the grass feels lovely on my bare legs. I sat down and began to pick the flowers. I didn't realise Carl still followed me after so it surprised me when he sat down next to me. I went back to picking daisies.

"What are you doing?" Carl asked me after a long period of silence. I brushed my fringe out of my face and looked to the right- where he was sitting.

"Picking daisies." I stated bluntly. I switched to laying on my front before poking holes in the daisy stems and throwing away broken ones.

"Why?"

"To make a daisy chain. Gotta keep my sanity somehow. Geez, Carl don't you know how to make one?" I held up my incomplete, three daisy, daisy chain in front of him.

"No. You know, your getting really comfortable here, we haven't even been here a day." I shrugged at him, and watched silently as he began to pick his own daisies. Only when he looked back at me I remembered what I was doing and continued. "So, how do you do this?" He asked quietly. I looked at him and inched closer so our shoulders were touching and took his daisy out of his hand.

I started to, annoyingly slowly- might I add, explain the steps until he got it. I waited until he got to four before I continued my own again.

"I bet I can get more daisies on my chain than you." I suddenly heard. I looked at him and I realised all this time of his silence, he was picking daisies from nearby and piling them up. I gasped.

"That's cheating!" I pouted and attempted to swat away the pile but he held my arm down with surprising strength for a twelve year old.

"What? Afraid of a challenge?" He mocked. He is really starting to annoy me but I will not back down from a challenge!

"No!"

"Okay then, go!" I mumbled 'Cheater' and proceeded to add my daisies to my chain. Several times I managed to sneak daisies from his pile. And then he caught me and pushed his pile further to his right side while poking his tongue out. I sort of managed to keep up but then it just got to the point where I reached over his back to his pile and grabbed as many as I could. "Hey!"

I poked my tongue out at him and he swatted my face. I moved my face left before saying with a fake- angry voice. "I will bite your hand off if you do that again."

I giggled at his blank face before setting the stolen daisies in front of me. We continued a little while longer but we soon had to go back to the group because Carol told us its getting too dark. As soon as we got up, Jessica latched herself to my arm. She does it a lot. I gave her my daisy chain and she was please. Carl beat me but it doesn't matter because he threw his away. Nope, I'm not going to get upset, because he cheated!

Once we were settled, we found out Rick was more pissed than he looked, Carol was doubting and Rick made a very tempting threat. But I knew Jessica and I only got lucky over the past year on our own so of course, I didn't move.

Right now I am sat Indian style in front of the fire with Jessica curled up asleep on my lap, prodding the flames with a stick. Carl was sitting to the left of me, leaning heavily on my shoulder- I cant tell if he's asleep or not 'cause his hat is in the way and if I go to look and he is asleep, he's going to have a very nasty wake up call with the ground- and then Lori and Beth are chatting idly next to him. I think Lori is angry at Carol for doubting Rick, or at least, was angry because I can tell she is having doubts of her own.

I don't know where Rick is now. I think he's venting on a perimeter check. He even admitted to everyone that he killed Shane- that upset Carl but he got over it quick- and he told us that we are all infected with the virus. Fun. So I guess that means, it doesn't matter how you die (unless your brain is demolished) because either way you will revive as a walker. Oh the joy and hope in life right now, how it falls...

Opposite me, Maggie is asleep, resting her head on Glenn's lap as said man is talking in hushed whispers to Hershel- probably about Maggie and Glenn's newly found out love life. Next to Hershel, T-Dog has passed out against a tree with some sort of metal pole in his hands. I guess he doesn't feel very safe right now. I don't blame him.

Then Carol is also asleep laying on her side, facing away from the fire. She was talking to Daryl earlier, trying to coax him into eating some of what little food we have left. I've been told that Daryl hasn't been eating well as of late. But then again, neither has most of us.

Said guy is pacing back and forth waiting anxiously for his turn on watch. Its actually starting to annoy me. He's been at this for the past four hours. That's probably why most of us are still awake.

"Lori." I whispered towards the very tired looking woman (Also, did I mention that she's pregnant?). She turned to me.

"Yes, dear?" She asked back in the same tone.

"Is Carl asleep?" I asked her, nodding my head to the boy in question leaning against me. Lori leant forward to look at his face from under his hat.

"Yeah, you want me to move him?" I nodded my head. Its not that I don't like Carl leaning on me because the poor kid was shattered earlier and I guess I am comfortable, ha, but I do need to move Jessica off me so I can try, keyword: try, and get some sleep myself. Lori leaned Carl backwards slowly until he was sleeping peacefully on the floor next to me. I scooped Jessica up and placed her in my spot next to Carl but not close to the fire because I know how much she tosses and turns in her sleep. If she gets any nightmares, she'll tell me... I hope.

I stood up and went to the car Jessica arrived in. I hope they grabbed my duffel bag too. Or at least Jessica's one- that's the one that has the blankets in it. To my relief, they brought both.

When I arrived back to the fire, it was just a smoking pile of ashes curtsey of Daryl who had apparently deemed it too light. I squatted down in my place and brought out of my bag the only four blankets I grabbed from the cars on the bridge. I grabbed only four because I figured if it got too cold we could double up on warmth. I walked over and put one over Maggie, Glenn and Hershel both thanked me for that. I tucked one carefully over T-Dog too who twitched and snored quietly in his sleep. I put the longest one over Carol who was still on her side, she hadn't moved. And finally, I put the last one over Jessica and Carl.

Lori looked at me gratefully and smiled, it was tight but I could see the meaning. I smiled back slightly before laying on my side, curling up as close as the embers as I would allow myself and try to fall asleep.

Of course I didn't fall asleep for several hours no matter how hard I tried. About two-ish hours ago, I briefly heard Rick come back and Daryl scold him for taking so long before trotting off for his turn. Rick settled next to Lori, I figured because I heard them talk for a while before everything went silent. And quite frankly this silence is killing me.

I deepen my breathing and concentrate on chirping of critters around me before eventually, eventually falling asleep.

* * *

**_Word Count: 1,583._**

**_Not as long as my previous one, but doesn't matter :D_**

**_Like I said in my last chapter, I have difficulty with past/ present tenses so you're just going to have to bare with me until my edit if I got any wrong this time. ;)_**

**_PersonWriter8571: Thank you for reviewing every chapter so far :D That's good, helps me continue with my edits and gives me new ideas. And yes, I realise that my little sister can be a little rambunctious (Cant believe I spelt that right.) at times but she's not really badass, just naughty and... annoying... and... related to me xD _**

**_Please review more guys, I really wanna know more about what you think!_**


	6. Chapter 5: New Home

I lightly hummed along to a song on the IPod before the last of its battery drained. 3% left. Its the one from when we held Randall hostage; its also run on battery so I can easily find another two batteries and replace it. Its very old this one. A lot of 1990- 2000s songs on here like Queen and stuff.

Its been, I think, about four months since we left the farm. We've been here and there, limited to only three cars and Daryl's motorbike. Me and Jessica are squished in with the Grimes' small car- Carl, Jess and myself in the back whilst Lori and Rick at the front. The Greene's are in the car behind us and finally there's T-Dog, Carol and Glenn.

We've been here and there, never really settling in one place but we're trying considering Lori's pregnancy is coming along fast. Carl is once again, sort of, a year older than me. He's thirteen now- his birthday was somewhere earlier this January. They never did actually find out my birthday, Carl asked me about it but I just said I couldn't remember- which is partially true since due to everything that went on, I cant remember the exact date but I do know the day it was on. Even though Jessica isn't happy about me forgetting about it, its probably for the best since I never really enjoyed birthdays anyway.

I wonder if we will ever settle down. Find a place we can actually live. Safe. Cosy. Preferably in the middle of a field or something; like the farm.

I think that we are on our way out of the country but I'm not totally sure because if we were would of exited these woods by the end of these four long winter months.

These four months were somewhat interesting. I freaked out because while I was on a run with Glenn- after much persuasion- I found out that Jessica had killed a walker for the first time and I wasn't there to see it. I guess I should of been worried, be the stand- in parent that I first hoped I would be, but I couldn't help but be proud. She had shot it straight through the head. Of course, we had to quickly move out of the small neighborhood we were staying in because the sound of the gun attracted a herd that just happened to be walking by. Me and Glenn nearly got left behind. We were just lucky that we were walking back the way they were going.

We- Carl and I- never actually got to ride snowmobiles! That was annoying, it didn't even snow barely three inches either! However, the snowball fights between Carl, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, Beth and I were so fun. I hit Daryl by accident and ended up with ice- balls pelted at my back...

I also got several ear- fulls from Carl whenever I went out on a run with someone because he weren't allowed to go. Jessica, thankfully, didn't complain. Well except for the day after she shot the walker and I went out but a quick death glare shut her up. Hasn't opened her mouth since. Jessica is six now. I got her a little grey me- to- you bear holding a heart that said 'Happy Birthday' that I found on a run.

Several of us caught the flu. I'm sure that could of possibly be really deadly considering where the world is at this moment. Though that was not the case as we all recovered within a week. And also, we all made it. Other than the people who left us at the farm, we all are still alive and kicking today- even the baby, if you get what I mean!

I think I see a house up ahead. I swear, if its been raided, everyone's going to go into some massive depression. We have next to nothing food- wise. I've been sneaking my rations to Lori when she's not looking, for the baby. No one has noticed so far, to keep me from fainting of starvation, I've been nicking bits of Carl's.

I guess I am hungry but it doesn't matter now because everyone's starving. 2% left now. I frowned.

Rick's pulling the car up outside the house. Carl's going with me on this one. He looks so grumpy, I think he's just hungry... he better be. I don't know what else could of upset him so.

Before I get out, I give Jessica a look that says: Stay here or I'll shoot you myself. I guess that was harsh, I mean I proper death- glared her. Oh well. Ill apologise to her later, maybe with actual food. She's one of the few who is actually receiving food now. So far its kids + Lori. Daryl's had no luck with hunting either.

Everyone's silent as we get out the car. Not even a few whispered orders from Rick like we used to get. Its just get in- get out. Well that's what it seems. I think we will be resting here for a bit though.

T-Dog, Glenn and Maggie are going through the back entrance whilst Rick, Daryl, Carl and I head through the front door. Who builds a house right here in the middle of no where anyway? Briefly, out the corner of my eye, I notice Glenn, Maggie and shortly after that, T-Dog, head upstairs. Daryl and Rick split and head into different rooms, guns raised like the rest of us. Mine and Carl's guns are cool, we have silencers! We are the only ones who can freely shoot. Sorta.

We- Carl and I- creep slowly through the hallway before opening the furthest door and slinking in, welcomed with the faint growling of a women standing by a washing machine. I switch feet, left in front of feet before switching them back again and re- adjusting my grip on my gun; I'm not going to shoot, Carl will do that. You can practically feel the energy coming out in thick waves from him. I cant tell what kind of energy it is though, if he's mad or sad or upset, lonely? I thought I could read him before, that's a laugh, he's changed, 'matured' he says, too much for only four months, too much for someone his age.

Carl shoots the walker without the slightest of hesitation before moving on. The next room is a kitchen. Its grimy and dirty, its been abandoned so long even the fingerprints of the previous guy who raided this house are gone, covered in several more layers of month- old dust. I'm sure we used to have a kitchen like this- not too small, but not too wide, not too large either; it has everything where its easy to get to. We drop our guards and guns now because we faintly heard a 'Clear' or two from the others.

Carl and I sheath our guns and start sifting through the cupboards and fridge. Absolutely nothing. Dust, dust and hey look, more dust. Yay. This sucks. I walk up to Carl and tap his ass with my shoe as his head is buried in a cupboard diagonal to the sink.

"Lets go." I say quietly, not really in the mood to say anything more. I don't know what he's doing, I think he's ignoring me. Well. As I turn around and walk away towards where I heard T-Dog call the others in, I feel Carl pull on my a trouser leg. I turn around and crouch next to him, with a half- hearted smile, he shows me a tin. Its dog food. What is he thinking? I guess he is just as desperate as the rest of us. I shrug and pull him up before walking into the living room of the house.

My battery is on 1% now. This really does suck. Well, goodbye for now Queen! I squat down and fall the rest of the way down beside the couch with my back resting against said item. Letting out an irritated and heavy sigh, I turn my IPod on as loud as it can go, not really caring if anyone can hear it past my earphones. Its not even that loud anyway since I can hear the clutter of Rick chucking Carl's dog food can into the empty fire place.

I sigh again when I suddenly don't hear my music anymore. Pity. That's so annoying. I take my earphones out and tuck them and my IPod down the side of my bra.

Jessica crawls over from where she was sitting and sits between my legs. I wrap my arms around her and I feel her shift around, trying to fall asleep. She's been trying to sleep the entire car ride but I can see she is too restless. Its only just occurred to me how small Jessica really is, she still looks like a four year old. Its so cute. I gently stroke her forehead upwards, sweeping her brown tangled hair out of her face. Her hair is quite thin too.

T-Dog's pointing outside and everyone's up in a flash. I'm still, kind of, stuck here because Jessica's finally fallen asleep and I don't have the heart to wake her up. I'm relieved of my duty as a bed when Carl comes and takes her in his arms. I nod at him and jog out side with the others, Carl not too far behind me. I let him out first before shutting the door- a habit I suppose- and follow him, speed walking, to the car. Up front, in front of our car, I see Daryl sparing a glance behind him to make sure everyone is in the cars before starting up his engine and speeding off. I take a quick look back through the window and spy a small herd on its way towards us in the far distance. I figured just as much.

Jessica is on my lap now with my hands linked behind her to keep her from falling. Her head is on my chest and my head is on the head rest; it was on the window but quite frankly with all these nasty bumps on the road, it was not a good idea. I turn my head to look at Carl who is sitting by the other window; Jessica's feet are on his lap just barely and he is absentmindedly playing with the Velcro straps on her trainers with one hand and the other is on the door handle, propping his chin up. He just looks sad now.

They've stopped the cars again. Apparently the fuels' are running on fumes again. We've lost the herd so that's okay. Everyone seems really tired from all the running about; in fact, most of the adults look several years older than they actually are by now. I heard, recently, that Herschel has been nagging Rick to let him come on the front lines for once. That would be interesting to see, he's a good shot, I definitely know that, but, not to be mean or anything, seeing an old man firing a gun at people would be quite fun; old man kicking ass. Cool.

I pull myself out of my reverie when I feel the vibration of Carl's car door slamming. Jessica's still sound asleep so I don't move; I can see everyone gathering around the front of our car, with what looks to be, a map on the hood. Carl looks completely and utterly bored, with a longing expression as I follow his gaze to where Rick and Daryl are now heading off in search for fuel or something.

I scoot around a bit and pivot on my butt until my back is leaning against the car window, and I wrap my nimble legs around Jessica's and snuggle up to her; she's warm~! This car is freezing, I don't get it, its particularly hot outside but inside I'm still getting shivers. Time to get some shut eye before Carl takes up the entire space again! I let my eyelids become heavy and droop, and my mind to wander into dreamland. I was rudely woken up again by Glenn swinging my door open and catching my weary body harshly before it had a poorly ending acquaintance with the concrete road.

"Dude!" I hiss at him. "Ouch, what do you want~?"

He smiles excitedly at me and for some reason, this infuriates me.

"Rick found something." He says simply and walks away. I stare at his back for a while before shaking Jessica. I see her groggy form sigh and look at me with expectant, wanting- more- well- needed- sleep, eyes, and I explain to her whats going on before we trudge towards the others waiting anxiously at the forest's edge.

No one says much, just a 'Get your belongings' and a 'You're going to like this' before we head off, lead by Rick, obviously, through the thick greenery; you can barely see a meter in front of you before you come face to face with a tree or shrubbery- well whatever's left of it after winter. I wonder where he's taking us; its got to be a house, I bet its a big, nice, warm house that still has a bit of juice left in it. Its going to have four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large kitchen and living room, and a huge fenced off garden filled with lush, freshly grown grass.

So when we came face- to- face with a prison, I was overjoyed. I know I said big garden but this is ridiculous. A really good ridiculous. God, I thank you. Its a safe haven! We can totally live here!

I don't even hear the happy squeals of Maggie and Beth or the relieved gasps/ sighs from the men + Lori, nor the orders from Rick to distract the walkers in the field so he can sprint across and shut the gate. I'll just follow them, yes, I think I'll drag Jessica with me as we squeeze through the newly made gap in the fence, and I'll drag Jessica with me up to nearest guard tower, with Hershel and Carl for company. And that is what I do. I take my gun out of its holster when we reach the outside door before leading the others slowly up the stairs, Hershel behind me, then Jessica and finally Carl.

When we eventually reach the top, the entire guard tower void of walkers, Carl and I start practicing our aim, and begin to pop off walker heads one by one in the field. I smile a bit when I see Rick jump in fright and give Carol a soft glare when said woman narrowly misses his head whilst shooting. When the last walker is down for the count, we- Hershel, Carl, Jessica and I- make our way back to the others before we all giddily make our way into field. The wait was worth it. We can do this; we can actually live here.

I can hear Hershel talking excitedly to Rick about growing a farm and raising cattle; I can also hear Beth happily telling a slightly glum- looking Lori how she can have the baby here, how it will be the perfect place for us to raise the child too. Rick says this place is a gold mine; this place, having fallen early into the apocalypse, would be stacked and filled to the brim with food and medical supplies and other things we may need. I can just catch Glenn's opinion, he seems slightly worried about if there are any surviving prisoners, that was, though, quickly shattered when Rick reminds him that its been roughly 10 months since the beginning of this hell hole so he doubts there will be anyone left.

Its going to be dark soon. I don't know whats up with Daryl but as soon as we got here, he stationed himself on top of an overturned bus, near where we've decided to camp for the night, and hasn't moved once; just pacing around, back and forth, crossbow at the ready. I'm kind of concerned, Daryl's the one who has managed to eat the least out of us, hes constantly pushing his body to the limit, I'm surprised that he hasn't collapsed from exhaustion yet! I've seen Carol go up to him several times to either attempt to persuade him into either eating or coming down; either one, it doesn't matter, he's refused all of her offers. I heard Carol telling Lori she might just go up there herself and force him to eat.

Glenn and T-Dog are heading back up the field towards us, with what looks to be wood in their arms, for the fire- yay, night warmth! I look over to, what obviously is west, and bask in the fading warmth of the setting sun, that looks like its bleeding into the sky. I wish I had a camera with me right now. The bloody pinks and purples stretch across the sky for miles on end, fading in and out, from blues to yellows and pinks to purples.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and tap it twice. I look up to see T-Dog staring at whats left of the sunset with me, nodding his head sightly, appreciatively. I smile at him even he cant see it, he and Glenn are like the older brothers I never had. Plus, T-Dog gives great hugs! Speaking of hugs, I can feel arms encircling my shoulders, and I lean into him, wrapping my arms around his broad ones. He's warm~...

As the last ray of light disappears from my sight, I sigh, contented, and trot towards the awaiting warmth that is a fire on my own- T-Dog having left a little while ago with a ruffle of my hair. Other than Daryl, who is _still _up on the bus, and Rick who is doing a quick, final patrol, everyone is gathered around the fire, devouring Daryl's only catch of the week greedily. I think its wild boar or something, but the smell of it has my mouth watering. I haven't eaten in so long, and as the opportunity has presented itself, I shalt take it with much vigor!

I jog/ skip the rest of the way to where Carl is happily snacking on his food, with an anticipating grin and practically throw myself down next to him. As Carl passes me a rather big, I believe, helping of boar, I look at our group for Jessica and find her sitting in between Beth's legs, munching away as Beth discusses happily with Lori about, most probably, baby names or anything as girly as she can get in this disaster- ridden world.

Beth loves kids I heard. No, I know, she adores them. Never having a baby sister of her own. So I can guess why she would have such an attachment to Jessica. Maggie is too protective of the younger to completely obsess over them but I know she does enjoy the company of children just as much as Beth does; and Hershel too, I guess it runs in the family. Hershel likes to sit Jessica on his knee and tell her bible stories, well, any stories really but I know that the Greene's are just as religious as we are. I kind of like listening to his stories too. Old people are very compelling...

Carol is dealing with Daryl now, from what I can see she's up on the bus talking to him- nope, he's giving her a massage? Maybe there is something going on that I don't know about...

A hand waves in front of my eyes several times, I blink and shake my head, tearing my eyes away from the two, to stare at the owner of said appendage. Carl's looking at me weirdly. I must of been staring at them a while then. I can see his lips moving but at the moment, I'm a bit too caught up in my thoughts to process at the moment. Okay, getting there, nearly... Now.

"Rth to Tabitha~? Dude!"

"Eh? What?" I answer dumbly.

He sighs and shakes his head. I pout. "You look like you anticipated that answer..." I eye him suspiciously, in a playful way. He shrugs at me and looks over at where Carol is now watching Daryl eat the tin of beans she gave him.

"You were staring at them for a while. Are you worried about Daryl? I am too; I haven't seen him eat since we left the farm. Aren't you glad Carol finally got him too eat?"

"Mm, wha- yeah, yeah I am. Did you see them just now, Carl? Daryl was giving her a massage!" I grinned goofily at him and made a little heart with my small hands and put it over my eye. "Cute, isn't it?!"

Carl gave me a weird look. "You're weird." He used his hands to bring mine down; there's a little smile tugging at the edge of his lips. "You know that? Are you sure you aren't Jessica in disguise?"

I smirked at him and flipped my hair over my shoulder haughtily. "Tch, I am mature." I began, and bumped my shoulder against his, "Just not around you." I hear him make a little 'Pshh' noise which makes me smile, and I rest my head on his shoulder, shifting around until I can feel the edges of his overly- large hat on the top of my hat. "There's an arm in the way." I mumble, mostly to myself but I think he heard it, and wrapped my arms around his, making myself comfortable. I feel him tense for a moment, his arm probably in an awkward angle considering I'm practically pulling it out of its socket, before he relaxes and I feel his head lean back on mine.

I hear a few 'awws' and snickers from Glenn, T-Dog, Beth and Carol, and I wave them off with a roll of my eyes. I tell them I'm going to sleep seeing as Jessica has already gone to bed, sleeping on Beth, and drag Carl down the floor with me. I snuggle up to Carl and make him wrap his arms around me too, when I feel his questioning gaze, I just mumble that I'm cold and bury my head in his chest. I really am cold though, night times can be brutal especially since its still early into spring. Also, I just really like hugging people. I wont tell anyone that though, I gotta be the big bad- ass sister that Jessica looks up to me as.

Little did I know what kind of terrors awaited me the next day, and the suffering I will then be faced with, and the long road to forget.

* * *

_**Word Count: 3,927.**_

_**Finnaalllyyy. I'm so sorry for not updating! I feel terrible, I literally have no excuse whatsoever, I'm just lazy mostly. So I've done a much longer chapter than usual for you. **_

_**Oh yeah, that last chapter, that weird one, was just a very poorly done, kind of, filler chapter. Just thought I'd put it out there. **_

_**I will get the chapter up on time by next Saturday! *vows* I probably wont, but ill try anyway! xD**_

_**PersonWriter8571: Thank you, Happy- Very- Late- Easter to you too!**_

_**I need reviews please! I really want to know what people think, even if its just to complain about my tardiness! **_

_**Reevvieeww :)(:**_


	7. Chapter 6: Getting Settled

There's a creak just outside the fences of the prison. Its small but it runs the entire length of the prison. I know 'cause I've checked.

The small group of our men, including Hershel, have gone into a cell block to clear it out; I don't know how many blocks they're going into though, probably just the closest one or two for now- I only heard 'A cell block' when they were discussing it before I walked off to the walkway between the outer fences. I brought a nearby crowbar with me. Okay, it was propped up through the chain link in the fence, and I had to nab it before a walker or three nabbed me.

Right now I am dragging the crowbar along the fence, walking towards the gate that Rick shut earlier, and attracting the few lingering walkers. I think I might kill them through the fence. If I can find something other than the crowbar or my knife- my knife is too short and will probably be pulled out of my grasp by a walker- and my machete wont fit through the gaps, and I would be stupid to use my rifle or gun. That's all my weapons down the drain.

I finally reach the end of the fence where there's a gate blocking my exit. That's the way I came through. Couldn't go the other way- that leads to the courtyard just outside the prison building entrance but last time I checked, before the guys went in, it was overrun. Instead of going back to the others, I begin to whack the fence a little harder, smiling a bit when several fell over from the vibrations of the fence rebounding into their faces. Its a shame they get back up again.

After a while, I sit down with a sigh and rest my arms and head on my knees. I prod the fence with my toes. I need something pointy! It would help a lot, as much as I would be advised to leave them there, I can just see that somewhere in the future, this entire fence is going to topple down, even if it is large and sturdy... for now.

I look around to see if there are any sticks through the fence or somewhere. Nope, nothing. I take a glance quickly at the inner fence and gate, and then look again. I squint my eyes, before jumping up and running towards the thin piece of metal glinting in the sun light. Its lying right outside the main gate. If I could just reach it. I need to grab it quick before the walkers catch up to where I am, so this has gotta be a split second thing. I just hope its in my arms reach- I cant tell from here.

I unlock the gate and swing it open. It smashes loudly into the main gate. I must be a sight to see back where Carl and the others are, running around like a lunatic. I then go to the far end of the gate and drop to my knees. There's a small gap underneath the gate- I wonder if anyone ever noticed that?- its just big enough for me to put my arm under. I do so and stretch so far I gotta push right up against it and face the other way, groping the ground blindly for the pole. My finger tips just brush it. The growls of walkers nearby tell me they're getting closer, and I'm a sitting duck. I push harder against the fence until my index and middle fingers have enough room to drag it my way. Just as soon as my hand tightly holds the end, I rip my arm back towards me, and a walker falls flat on its face.

I nod with a satisfied 'humph' before looking at what I grabbed. Well, its pointy. Its like one of them poker things that you use to stick in a fire. Poking my tongue out at the now standing and growling walker, I stand up and make my way to stand in front of it. It cant've been any taller than 5,6 or 7. That's not too much taller than me... Well, I am, I think still 4 foot something, so~.

I take the poker and jap it at the walker. But, I missed. I face palm, stupid chain link thingy. So after several more aims and fails, I eventually manage to stab the walker through the eye. Finally. I roll my eyes and move onto the next walker- a lady in a dress. I shove the poker through the chain link at the lady but I miss again; it only scratches it, the walkers cheek got caught on the end and peeled off. I stop a minute and rest my head against my arm as I fight off waves of nausea. That's so gross...

"How you doing?"

"Just dandy." I reply and face the boy with a really annoying smirk on his face. "Just popping these things off like crazy."

Carl just laughs and does that really cute half smile of his. "I can totally see that. The number of corpses are very impressive."

"Nuh." I poke my tongue out at him dejectedly. I raise my other arm to the poker and with a frustrated growl, bring it out and shove it back into the fence with probably more effort than necessary. At least it worked this time. I sigh and look over at Carl again, said person having stood a little closer this time. "Gimme your hat." I grin at him.

"No way!" He throws both his arms over his head. I laugh at him.

"So what did you want anyway?" I ask eventually, getting back to killing the walkers- well, attempting to anyway.

"Oh yeah, the group has cleared two blocks now, so we're free to go in and pick rooms- or, cells..." I throw down the poker and spin a bit too fast to face him. Once I regain my balance, I grin at him and skip ahead.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" I yell back at him and sprint faster towards the courtyard.

I giggle when I hear Carl yell "Hey, cheater!" and sprint after me. Its a hopeless race though; not to toot my own horn, but, I am much faster than him anyway. I stop outside the nearest door and wait for Carl to catch up, moving out the way when Daryl came through. Probably to keep guard at one of the towers. I take in quick breaths and slow them down when Carl gets nearer so I can trick him into thinking that I'm not actually tired. I poke him in shoulder when he doubles over to catch his breath.

"I win, you rotten egg." I say slyly with an impish smile. He stands back up again and half heartedly slaps my arm.

"Shut up." We walk into the cell block. I'm kind of surprised how clean it is. I mean, except from the very few bodies of ex- prisoners that Glenn, T-Dog and Rick are carrying out at the moment, it is very empty. I just hope the cells are in the same condition. "Hey wanna share a cell?"

I stop for a moment and look at him. "Uh, no I don't think so. I should share one with Jessica. She might get lonely." Carl nods and goes to find a cell for his own. Our bags have been brought in so I walk over to the corner where they've been stashed and take out my black duffel bag and Jessica's backpack. Just as I go to leave and find a cell, I spot Jessica's teddy sitting on the table, so I pick it up and walk upstairs. I want a cell upstairs. Because, here's the weird thing, I like to be up high, the highest above everyone else, but, I have a huge fear of heights. When I do climb trees or go high places- excluding second floors and stuff like that- I just ignore my racing heart and keep going. I even dare myself to look down even though it scares the shit out of me. I think its my way of trying to get over my fear, even though it doesn't work, I try it anyway. Daring myself to do stupid things has become a sort of habit.

When I arrive upstairs I see my sister bounding over to me from a cell from the left side of the prison. She runs up to me and hugs me, telling me how Rick and the others cleared out two blocks in about 20 minutes. Personally, I think that's too long, what were they doing? Taking a break every two minutes? Anyway, she's taking her bag from me now and leading me to our cell. When we get there, I note that it is just as clean as the rest of the prison. Its simple too. Well, obviously. Its a prison. A bunk bed to the right of the door, a sink to the left, a small, fallen, book shelf, a pee bucket- which I promptly pick up and boot out of the door- and a bedside table.

I tell Jessica I've got dibs on top bunk and chuck the duffel up there. I untie my rifle from my back and throw it up on top bunk along with my knifes, machete and handgun. There's no longer a ladder on this bunk bed- I swear I saw someone take it outside earlier- so I use the, I hope, stable bars to pull myself up to the bed. I sit with my legs bent in front of me whilst I sift through my bag. I don't remove much, just a change of clothes and a magazine.

"Hey guys?" Comes an uncertain voice from our cell door. Its Glenn; he looks like he's just seen a ghost. "Did any of you two throw this?"

He lifts up the pee bucket I booted out earlier. Oh~! Must of scared him shitless! Man, I wish I could of seen that. Me and Jessica point at each other almost immediately. "She did it!" We both scream at once. "Liar! Jinx! Double Jinx! Triple Jinx!"

I lunge for the handle of my rifle. "Touch wood!" I cheer. Jessica pouts and crosses her arms. "Mwhahaha..."

I look at Glenn with a grin that most likely tells him I did it but I'm too busy basking in my victory to care. He just gives a breathy laugh and a smile before leaving us. I tell Jessica its time to turn in before dumping all my stuff, excluding my magazine, at the foot of the bed and turn over to face the wall on the surprisingly soft mattress. When I hear Jessica's breaths even, I take a look at the title of the magazine. I didn't even look at what kind of magazine this was when I picked it up. Its an Iron Fist magazine. I don't know who that is but its better than nothing.

After flicking through several pages, eventually, sleep takes over me and I fall into a nightmare filled sleep. Unfortunately for me.

When I wake up, I bolt up with my arms outstretched. Geez, I have no idea where that came from. It was awful.

I flop backwards on my bed again and take a deep breath, willing my heart to calm down. I bolt up again and lie on my front, and stick my head down through the gap in the bars at the end of the bed where the ladder used to be. I relax visibly seeing Jessica still sleeping and alive in her bed. Quietly, I drop down from the bed and over to my duffel, picking up the change of clothes I ungraciously dumped on my bag. As I change into blue shorts, a white airy shirt and sandals- an outfit I've come to quite like- I think about the terrible dream I had last night.

It was actually set here, in the prison. I was playing with Carl in the field just outside the cell blocks, practising cartwheels and handstands, etc. There were three figures in the field, I couldn't really see them, they were blurry but by the hair colour, I could tell it was Hershel, Beth and Maggie. Jessica and Carol was in the courtyard, Carol sitting at a table and Jessica running and hopping about the length of the gates. That's when everything bad happened. I heard a scream and then a cry of "Walkers!" but it was too late. A walker had taken a chunk out of Jessica's neck. Then another one came up and bit into her arm. I was screaming and trying to run to her but every time I took a step, she seemed farther and farther away. There was blood everywhere. I don't remember what happened after that.

Shaking my head clear, I realise Jessica's been trying to get my attention for a while, she has even gotten changed by now. I apologise to her and we make our way down to the others- others being Carl, Lori, Carol, Maggie and Beth. When I ask where everyone is, they just bluntly told me that the others are clearing another cell block and that's it. Getting frustrated with not knowing why they're so on edge, I ask them- specifically Beth and Maggie- why they're so grouchy.

"Daddy's gone with them too." Maggie says. "But they've been gone too long, its worrying me." Beth nods and I sympathize. This is only the second time Hershel's ever been on the front lines. I guess they're worried about the consequences of things going wrong.

"Open the door! Its Hershel!" We hear a voice yell and in milliseconds, Carls already at the gate and swinging it open. I gasp at the bloody sight literally being wheeled in before me. Hershel is on a food cart with half his leg gone. What the hell happened?!

There's a harsh clang where T-Dog has slammed the gate shut before sprinting into the cell where they've taken Hershel. Everyone's panicking and screaming, and I've already ushered Jessica into our cell, telling her that she must stay there until the hype settles down. When I come back down all I can see is the bloody stump where half of Hershel's leg used to be and flitting hands rapidly trying to cover it- to stop it bleeding. Carl nearly crashes into me as he sprints upstairs to get pillow cases or something.

Maggie and Beth are crying, Lori's panicking about if he may have lost too much blood and that's only making the Greene girls cry harder. Hershel's unconscious. Thank goodness. I heard Carol mention about cauterizing but Lori says the shock might killing so that's out of the question. I don't even want to hear this anymore so I sit at the bottom of the stairs, pressed into the bars as much as possible to allow people room if they decide they need to suddenly run up the stairs like Carl did.

I jump to my feet when I hear movement. Unfamiliar movement. What the hell? Are those living prisoners? How long have they been here?! I see Rick and Daryl arguing with them. I don't like them. I was raised to dislike men- or women- with a prison record. But why mum stayed with dad, I do not understand.

All I hear from them is, "How many of you are there?"

And Rick answering, "Too many for you to handle." Before he escorts them to the courtyard. Probably to show them how the world has ended up after these long, agonising 294 days- as one man said. At least I think it was 294.

I sigh and sit back down on the stairs, shortly after, Carl joins me. We say nothing for a while. That's good because I'm still processing what has happened over these short 30 minutes. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Without looking at him, I recite to Carl what I heard about the prisoners- which, frankly, isn't much.

"There are at least five of them, that's how many I saw. They're armed too. They've been in this safe haven since the beginning, a friendly guard locked them in a cafeteria. They know absolutely nothing about the outside world. One of them even asked for a cell phone. Tch, idiot. Last I heard, they're going to the courtyard to see what its like outside."

He doesn't speak. Neither do I. Not for a while. Not until T-Dog storms out of the cell where Hershel is to yell at the prisoners who apparently think its okay to waltz in here and 'take what's theirs'. Yeah, like that will happen.

"He got bit." Carl says quietly. I look at him and rest my elbows on my knees, head in hands. He repeats it, louder this time. "He got bit. Hershel. Dad had to cut off his leg with an axe."

I want to say 'cool' but Carl will probably yell at me, so instead I just lean against his shoulder and keep quiet. That's until I cant handle it. I jump up and sprint outside wanting some air. I don't know how long I stay out there because eventually after a long while, T-Dog calls me in saying they've got food. Real food. Worries aside, my stomach growls at the thought of fresh- as fresh as it can get- food.

I walk back in slowly. Half expecting there to be the same yelling and panicking as there were when I left, but its quite peaceful actually. Everyone who isn't tending to Hershel has gathered around one of the circular cafeteria tables. T-Dog walks over with lots of food. "A lot more where that comes from" He says and then takes it away to an empty cell at the far end of the room.

Lori then comes out and tells us that the bleeding is under control and he has no fever. I'm relieved, and plop down next to Carl. I'm tempted to make a grab for the food but I want to wait for everyone to start with theirs. If they do that is. I do have my eye on them tin of peaches though...

Carl stands up suddenly and beckons me over to where they've put a couple boxes of the food. More peaches... Yum! Ignoring Carl for the moment- he looks a bit tired, as in "Dude..."- I brush past him and kneel on the bench, sifting through the boxes to see what we got. Fruit, vegetables, are they sweets? Yush! And lots more goodies and real food instead of scraps of shit and squirrel hides! This really is a safe haven. I toss Carl an apple before helping myself to one too.

"Tabitha." He hasn't used my name in a while. "I think we should go to the infirmary. Just us. We can clear it. The entrance is already cleared. We can get the stuff Hershel needs-"

"Dude." I interrupt him. "You had me at 'infirmary'. Let me get my silencer. You got yours still?" With a grin, a nod, and a pat on the grouchy sheriff juniors head, I skip off up to my cell. When I get there I slip my gun into its holster and clip my knives to my boot, belt and one in my pocket too. Just in case. On the way out, I tell Jessica, who is just heading back into the cell, that I'm going out to the infirmary and she promises she wont tell. I jog back down to Carl just as he finishes his apple. I smile excitedly at him. "Lets go." And we do.

When we get there, with me leading 'cause I nicked the flashlight from Carl just before we entered, I kick the double doors open with a slam. If that didn't attract walkers, what will? There's only three in here. One's dressed in a nurses outfit, the other two were under dressed guards. I shoot one, Carl shoots two, that pisses me off because now Carl has something to gloat about later. I can literally see that cheeky grin on his face, just as he took down that walker, I'm seeing this coming a mile away.

We grab a bag and fill it with the necessary supplies, meds and needles and stuff, right to the brim and then sprint back to cell block C. When we get there, Carl dumps the bag unceremoniously in front of Lori and Maggie on the floor. I feel good, we just helped save a life. Whilst Lori and Maggie dig through it like it contains the cure, Lori spits out,

"You went by your selves?"

"Well, yeah." I say, uneasily, she doesn't look pleased. Not at all.

"Are you crazy?! This was done with an entire group present!" She sweeps a hand over the unconscious Hershel.

I feel the need to say more but Carl beats me to it. "Hershel needs them. So we got them."

"Yes, and I appreciate that but-"

"Then get off my back!" Wow. I'm shocked... I'm also fighting off the urge to laugh. I bite my lip. Mood swings much? Right, not helping. The girls don't look very happy, especially Lori.

Beth looks appalled. "Carl!" Said kid just storms out though. I shift uncomfortably. Thanks for putting me in an awkward situation Carl. Thanks. With a few unrecognisable hand gestures and incoherent words that sound suspiciously like "Carl" "Go" and "Him", I awkwardly shuffle out of the room to go look for Carl. He's in his cell. Its right opposite my room. He looks defeated. On the floor, knees bent, head back against his mattress, hat over face. Wow. Gives me the urge to laugh again.

I squat in front of him. I wonder if he can feel my eyes burn into his soul...? Nope, apparently not. He's either asleep or too caught up in his thoughts to hear me come in. So instead, I settle for stealing his hat and mimicking his position on the wall in front of him, except my arms and head are propped on my knees. And I'm smiling. Carl lets out a long breath and looks at me. He looks a bit pissed off for a second.

"That smile of yours. I can practically hear you making fun of me from here. Its annoying." Not bothering to hide it, I grin at him.

"Your fault for making a scene. Wanna go pop some heads?" I asked him, tired of his moping. He thought for a moment before reaching out a hand. I took his hand and we pulled each other up; Carl took his hat back. When we got outside it was still light, probably not for long but long enough for Carl and I to take our frustrations out on the walkers' flimsy bodies.

We went on like this for a while, popping walker after walker at the very end gate until there wasn't enough left worth wasting effort for. I still would've done it anyway if it hadn't been for Carl who dragged me to opposite chain fence for a break. We didn't move again for the rest of the evening until T-Dog came and informed us that Hershel was alive and well and would make a full recovery. He would probably wake tomorrow.

* * *

_**Word Count: 4,017**_

_**DOOOONE! **_

_**GOD DAMN CAPS!**_

_**Damn thing is frozen, had to keep my finger on shift for the entire of the last couple of paragraphs... D: Frustrating...  
**__**  
Yes, its a day late; at least its only a day this time, right? Instead of a week? xD**_

_**GreenAngel01: Glad to see you've still stuck with me! Thanks very much.**_

_**PersonWriter8571: Yeah, uh, I lied. That big thing isn't happening until next chapter... *smiles sheepishly* I probably will have them kiss, just not yet... soon maybe, but not too soon as to ruin the story line.**_

_**Thanks again dudes and dudettes whom read this!  
**__**REEEEEEEEVIEEWWW!**_

_**Cheers!**_


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